City of Angelic Lights
by FanOfTheWrittenArt
Summary: Clary was sixteen when her mother died and her father kicked her out of the house. Jace was ten when he was adopted by the Lightwoods. Now twenty, Clary's life takes a turn for the worst when she is diagnosed with cancer. Jace on the other hand, doesn't know what he want's to do with his life, but that all changes when one day he makes a friend in the most unlikely of places.
1. Chapter 1

**Intro- **

**Clary is nineteen years old, and completely on her own. Jace is dearly loved, but it never feels like enough. Clary's mother died in a car accident, and her father threw her out. Jace was an orphan who was adopted by a wealthy family. One day Clary's already desperate situation takes an ultimate turn for the worst, when on top of her constant working she discovers she has a deadly disease. Jace on the other hand, thinks he's finally found something worth putting his heart into one day when going to the hospital for a broken arm. Fate brings two people from entirely different walks of life together, the question is weather its for the better or for the worst...**

**I DO NOT OWN MORTAL INSTRUMENTS  
**

Clary Fray~*

"Clary!" A voice squeaked from behind, nearly making her drop the stack of plates she had been holding. Glancing back she saw her friend Maia trailing behind her as she swerved between tables. "Whoops. Sorry, didn't meant to scare you."

Clary ducked as a waiter lifted a tray over her head, "It's fine. Now hold on a second please?"

She danced around a chair that had been abruptly pushed out in front of her, and skirted around a man talking loudly at his friends by the bar. Maia was still following her when she finally made it to the kitchen. Carefully she made her way to the back, and set the large tray of plates she had been carrying on the counter to be cleaned. Clary released a sigh, and used her smock to wipe the sweat off her forehead. Sometimes she hated how busy the little dinner could be, but she knew better than to be ungrateful.

Taki's was a little diner and bar stuck between two skyscrapers in New York City, it was classy, small, and incredibly busy. After being kicked out of the house for the sole reason of being an extra mouth to feed Luke, the owner of Taki's and a good friend of her mother's, had offered her a job. Clary had never been more grateful in her life, after four months of living out of her car she had saved enough paychecks and tips to bye an extremely tiny apartment eleven blocks away. Ever since then she worked from six AM, to eight PM seven days a week to pay the bills. Of course she was exhausted, she got headaches, and sometimes Clary just wanted all the people in the diner to shut up and go away, but she managed.

Clary rolled her shoulder trying to relieve some of the tension, and glanced back at Maia giving her a smile. "Sorry, I couldn't afford to drop another tray of plates this week. It's like an obstacle course out there! Now what is it that you needed?"

Maia smiled at her and shook her head making her short brown curly dance. She was a very pretty girl with dark skin, brown eyes like melted chocolate, and a good five inches on Clary. Maia had started working at Taki's about two months after Clary, and they had been friends ever since. "I was wondering if you could cover my shift next Friday?" Maia batted her eyelashes and looked hopefully towards Clary.

Friday was the busiest night of the week, but after all the things Maia had done for her she owed her one. "Sure, why?"

"Simon Lewis asked my to go see the new Alien Wars movie with him!" Maia had a big dopy grin on her face, and Clary couldn't help but reciprocate it. Simon had been Clary's best friend since kindergarten, and was a big time nerd, but on the other hand so was Maia. Those two had gotten along swimmingly from the second Clary had introduced them.

Clary, smiled at her. "Go have fun, I've got you covered."

Maia's grin grew bigger, and she gave Clary a quick hug. "Thanks, your the best. If you ever need me to help out with anything at all just ask," Maia pulled back from their embrace. "When does your shift end? I've only got about five minutes left of mine, until Aline steps in."

Clary shrugged, and looked at the clock on the wall. "I still have another hour until Kaelie gets here."

Maia nodded. "Well we better get back to our tables before we get in trouble. I'll see you tomorrow, Clary."

"Bye, Maia." Clary waited for a second, and watched Maia greet Aline before exiting through the glass doors of the diner. She sighed and leaned back against the metallic kitchen counters exhausted, lately she'd been feeling more tired then ever. She looked at her reflection in the sink and saw large shadows under her eyes. Clary touched her face and slouched, all of the extra shifts she'd been taking up were really taking their toll. After rolling her shoulders and feeling her stiff joints pop, she wiped her hands on her smock and went back to work.

She sashayed around tables, took orders, cleaned up spills, and occasionally assisted the receptionist until the clock tolled signaling the end of her work day. Grabbing her things and wishing Kaelie good luck as she went though the door, Clary made her way to her old beat up car. It was red with chipped paint, a cracked windshield, a spring poking out one of the back seats, and an engine that was barely clinging to life. She loved that car. After all the junk she's had to do, that car had always been reliable, never failing her once. She hopped into the front seat, and leaned against the steering wheel trying to ward off an oncoming headache. Sitting back up, Clary made her way back to the small shabby apartment she called home...

* * *

Jace~*

Jace raised his arms above his head and popped his back. He had spent the whole day volunteering at the local soup kitchen, and his back was sore from leaning over pots and pans all day. He looked over at the somewhat weathered down building and sighed. Jace had enjoyed spending his day helping these people out, but it still didn't feel right to him. He spent every weekend volunteering for something new. One week he helped clean rooms at a children's shelter, another it was building houses for the poor, last week he helped raise money for a run-down nursing home. But no matter what he did, he still felt like he was doing the wrong thing.

Ever since he was sixteen he had been going through the same cycle of volunteering and moving on. Jace's parents were killed when he was only six, and most of his memories were of them participating at charity events. After they died he was put in several foster homes, some of them were good, some were not so good. Finally when he was ten, Jace was put with the Lightwoods whom ended up adopting him. Ironically though, they new nothing of his charitableness. In fact, for all they knew he was a huge jerk. They loved him of course, Robert and Maryse treated him like a son, and him, Isabelle and Alec were closer than normal siblings, but his reputation with most people wasn't great... He rode a bike, his temper got out of hand easily, for the most part he was very withdrawn and when he did speak it was usually to say something rude or snarky.

Strutting towards his bike, he pulled on his favored black leather jacket and silver helmet. An eerie sense of calm filling him as sped down the more quiet back streets of New York. It was dark out, and their wasn't as many people walking the streets as their was during the day. Jace drove up to the parking garage that his loft was attached to and parked his precious bike with careful precision. Hopping off his off his bike with an almost unnatural grace, he straightened his jacket and started making the long journey to the elevators. While walking Jace laid a hand against his hip and double checked that he had his knife on him. He didn't trust New Yorkers and he never left the house without his knife, especially since he lived right next to Central Park. That place attracted all kinds of weirdos.

Jace stepped into the elevator and tapped his foot impatiently as it made its slow progress upwards, blaring crappy music the whole way. He had never been a patient a person, so impatient that the Mayrse had him tested for ADHD multiple times, by the time he got to the top floor he could barely restrain from kicking a whole in the wall of the elevator. It was a relief when he saw the door to his home.

A silver plaque with "_Jace Herondale loft_ _127"_ written in fancy script hung from the thick custom wood door. Jace swung the door open and relished at the feeling of being home. His loft gave off the aura of luxury, superiority, and cleanliness, a large kitchen, plasma TV, black leather furniture, a designer white rug, king sized bed, and his favorite, a panorama view of the New York sky line. This whole place was a gift from his foster family, who were by all means very wealthy. Robert was a lawyer, Mayrse was a doctor, and all of the Lightwood children were going to college pursuing other top dollar careers. All the Lightwood children except for Max, who was still young, and himself. Jace had know idea what he wanted to do with his life.

As Jace mulled over that depressing thought, he got a text from Isabelle.

_You, me, Alec, tomorrow at Taki's 6:00 AM. Meet us there. No exceptions. Addresss, 2420 Brighten Street. Queens. Love,_

_Isabelle._

He groaned. Dropping his phone on his night stand, he changed into his sleep pants, a plane white shirt and flopped onto the bed pulling the silk sheets up to his chin. Jace didn't want to drive all the way to Queens, but he knew that ignoring a direct order from Izzy was dangerous. Besides he usually woke up early anyways. Slowly his eyes drifted shut and he fell into his dreams with a peculiar sense of anticipation growing in his heart.

**Hello! I am FanOfTheWrittenArt, and this is my first fanfic on fanfiction and my first Mortal Instrument fiction as well. This chapter was slightly boring and descriptive. I just like to get all the introductions out of the way at once. Next chapter will be MUCH more exciting! I've been wanting to write this story for a while and I'm really excited to finally start! Updates should come somewhat randomly but for the most part fairly quickly, and if not an extra long chapter will be promised. Also if you see any spelling or grammatical error, please tell me! I take any advise that could better my story or writing in general! I hope you enjoyed that chapter! Thank you all so much for reading! **

**Sincerely,**

**FanOfTheWrittenArt~***


	2. A Brief Meeting

**Hello guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter! And thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorite this story! Sincerely,**

**FanOfTheWrittenArt***

Clary woke up still exhausted, and in pain. Tears started dripping down her face as the light fluttering in through the window made her head ache worsten. She wrapped her arms around her head hoping, praying that the endless throbbing would stop. It felt like forever had passed, when she was finally able to pull herself onto her feet.

Her legs were shakey and her hands trembled at her sides, but she was stable enough to take a few wobbly steps. A series of clicks and pops went in a line up her back, as her joints compained from lying on nothing more than a mattress all night. Clary leaned against the wall for support, and looked around her tiny three room apartment with a smile on her face.

It was by no means fancy, by some standards you could even call it a dump, but she was proud of it nonetheless. A mattress, a pillow, and a hand knitted cotton blanket a friend from work made for her one day, made up her bed. She had a beaten up, simple gray couch that her neighbor no longer wanted in her den. The heater and AC were constantly breaking down. Sometimes she had to hit the front door with her knee for it to lock, the shower never had hot water, and the people abover her loved to throw parties every day that ended with Y. But there was one thing in her apartment that was worth more than any amount of money.

A beautiful painting of an angel standing in a lake with an upturned face, adorned the blank wall facing her couch. What made it valuable, though, was that it was the last painting her mother ever made. The weeks after her mother had passed were the roughest. Her father whom was already solitary and irritable took it to a whole new level when she died. When he wasn't sitting on the couch starring blankly at the wall, he was yelling at her with a new reason of why she was making him miserable. Why she should have done something to prevent Jocelyn from dying. How everything would be easier if she would just leave him alone. And one day, she did. Clary grabbed a duffel bag and put a couple bottles of water in it, a few changes of clothes, and two-hundred dollars in it. As she was walking towards the car she remembered something. Her father, Valentine, was asleep on the couch, so she snuck into what had been her parents room and took the painting off the wall. It was her prized possession.

Clary pushed herself off the wall and glanced down at her wrist watch. All the color drained from her face as she saw the time. 5:20 AM, she was fourty minutes late for work. Dashing to the bathroom like an Olympic runner, she grabbed her clothes from yesterday and started dressing the second she reached the bathroom. Throwing her hair into a ponytail and brushing her teeth, she considered herself good enough.

Checking the time one more time, Clary flew down the steps of her apartment. Practically slamming into the side of her car, she pushed the keys into the ignition and twisted. Nothing. Clary tried again. Nothing. One last hopeless attempt. Nothing.  
"No. No. Please, no!" She cried tapping her head against the steering wheel. "Not now. Please not now." Already knowing what was going to happen, Clary tried to start the car one more time. It splutterd for only a second before dying. It was official. She was jogging to work. "It's just eleven blocks. It's just eleven blocks. It's just eleven blocks," became her mantra as Clary ran.

It wasn't the safest part of town to be running through, but she was hoping that all the criminals were to lazy to get up this early. Her breath was catching in her chest, and the rhythmatic clapping of her feet against the pavement did nothing for her somewhat lingering headache. Then as if things couldn't get any worse... It started to rain.

By the time she reached Taki's her face was flushed, she was soaked to the bone, her breaths were quick and made her throat raw, and the mind numbing pain was creeping back into her skull. She slipped in a puddle and fell right against a wall. Weird thing was, this wall had a face.  
He had amber eyes, golden hair, and a face that looked like it was painted by Picasso himself. His face was stoic, but there was a deeply hidden underline of concern. Reaching down, he grabber her upper arm and gently tugged Clary to her feet. "Are you alright, Miss? Is somebody chasing you?" His voice was deep and smooth.

"No," Clary rhasped. "I-I I'm late f-for," she coughed. "I'm late for work," she finally managed, chest still heaving for air. Legs shaking, rapidly breathing, and soaking wet she must be a sight to see.

"Well no need to get yourself killed over it. Is this where you work?" Picasso face asked. Still nearly emotionless. Clary just nodded her head yes. Right as he was about to speak the glass door of Taki's was thrown open.

"Clary!" Luke cried out. "What happened to you? Are you okay?" Clary was still shaky as Luke laid a hand on her shoulder. "Your freezing. Come in side, I won't have you catching your death.

"But wait, Luke." Clary turned to look for picasso face, and was disappointed when she saw that he was gone.  
"What, Clary?"

Clary pursed her lips. "Nothing.''

Jace

Jace had never felt like more of a fool in his life. A pretty girl runs into him on the street, and he just stares at her. Well he did speak to her. It just wasn't witty, or intelligant, or even very concerned for that matter. Stupid, he mentally admonished himself. He couldn't continue his mental conversation though, Jace could see Isabelle and Alec waiting for him.

Jace was gladded he decided to be a little dressy. It was normal for Isabelle to pick somewhere expensive to hang out, and though this little dinner was quaint and homey, it definately had some class. So at least he didn't feel like a complete idiot in his dark dress suit, even if it wasn't exactly his style.

"Isabelle! Alexander! How lovely it is to see the both of you again," Jace smiled at them as he sat down.  
Isabelle gave him a small smile. "Hello, Jace."

Alec clapped him on the shoulder. "It's good to see you to, Brother. And if you ever call me Alexander again make no mistake I will punch you."  
Flipping her dark hair over her shoulder, Isabelle gave them another smile. "Now lets all ditch the crappy formal talk, if I wanted to talk like snobby rich person I would have just gone to work. At least there they pay me to talk like that,"

Jace rolled his eyes. "So what's with the summons? I didn't even know you two were in New York."

Suddenly a bleep went off, and Alec checked his phone, "Sorry, guys, I have to take this. Go a head and tell Jace, Izzy. You can fill me in when I get back. This should only take a minute." Alec pushed his chair back, and stepped outside.

Isabelled puffed. "Well, anyways. My trainer just recently moved out here to New York from Seattle with his family, and it's been just to difficult to continue training from such a long distance-" She trailed off looking at him expectantly. Jace could feel the smile breaking out on his face like a rash. Isabelle was a gymnist and a fashionista at heart. Two years ago she made contact with a trainer who'd promised her a spot at the Olympics if she worked with him. He was also quite the buisiness manager as well. So Izzy relocated to Seattle and from there not only has she been quallified to try out for the Olympics, but she also managed to aquire several new clothing lines that have been selling like a widfire. Since then, though, Jace has only been able to see her every few months and on Video Chat, he had missed his adoptive sister.

"Your moving back?" Jace asked hopefully.

"I'm moving back." She confirmed with a smile.

"Hey, guess what!" Alec broke in on their moment. "I've just been offered a huge promotion at a cancer research facility here in New York! Looks like I'm moving back!" Jace and Izzy stood up from the table with a whoop and high fived eachother. It was like they were highschoolers again.

"Wait," Alec said confused. "What'd I miss?"

Jace reached up and ruffled Alec's tidy black hair. "It looks like were all going to calling New York home again pretty soon."  
Alec sent a glance towards Isabelle. "Your moving here?" She nodded, and Alec managed to acquire his own face fracturing smile. "That's wonderful. You know what, lunch is on me today."

Izzy plopped back into her chair. "Awe. You remembered my favorite kind of food. Free."

Finally once everybody managed to tone their excitement down, the waitress showed up. "What can I get you all to drink, today?" Jace looked up from his menu to answer, and he felt his mouth go numb. It was her. Well, her in a better state. The red head from the street was no longer sopping wet, or gasping for air. Her hair was dried and pulled back away from her face, she had been given a new uniform, and she was now able to form complete sentences. But there was still something wrong, though. Her face was very pale, she had dark looking circles under them, and the hand that was holding the pen to take their oder was shaking.

Isabelle gave the waitress a smile. "I'll have the Spiced Cinnamon Latte."

"Green tea, for me." Alec said.

The waitress's green eyes looked at him, waiting for an answer. "Um. I'll just have a water. No lemon."

She turned away. "Okay. I have one Spiced Cinammon Latte, a Green Tea, and a water with no lemmon." Alec nodded confirming the order. "Good!" She smiled. "My name is Clary, and I'll be your waitress today your drinks will be out in a moment." Clary. He liked that name.  
True to her word the waitress named Clary was back moments later with their drinks. Next she took their orders, in which Jace was apalled when Alec ordered roast duck. For some reason he found his eyes following her as she moved throughout the restraunt. At one point he nearly ran up to help her when a jerk pushed his chair out in front of her, and she nearly dropped a tray full of plates. When the end of their meal came and they were standing up to leave, Jace pulled out twenty bucks and left it on the table as a tip.  
Isabelle was smiling at him funnily. "What?" Jace asked her.

"Oh, nothing." She kept smiling at him.

"I appreciate good customer service." Then he walked out of the restraun with Alec and Izzy following his trail.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! So l recently re-read the last chapter of this story and let me tell you it was blech. I was having so much trouble figuring out how to upload it, I didn't even pay attention to all the spelling errors and how rushed it was. It was all in all, a rather sad chapter. So I give my deepest apologies and hope this chapter makes up for the last one. Thank you all for reading! Sincerely,**  
**FanOfTheWrittenArt!***

DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE MORTAL INSTRUMENT SERIES. I NEVER HAVE AND I NEVER WILL! Sadly...

Jace~*

Jace was back at the soup kitchen. Yes it still didn't feel entirely right to him, but he had made a few friends there and felt obligated to come back at least once more.

Steam had fogged the kitchen, making sweat bead on Jace's forehead, and his ears were ringing from the sound of metal pots and pans being clinked together. A lady bumped against him, in her hurry to get the pan she was holding to the oven and nearly made him burn his hand. It was lound, hot, cramped, and flat out miserable, but worth it all the same. The smiles and happiness on everyone faces were a testament to that.

"Jace!" Camille, a pretty lady with blonde hair, and who also ran the place came up to him. "Are those rolls almost ready? Dinner's in five."

He looked down at the pan of slightly crisp rolls in his hands, and silently nodded his head. Don't get him wrong, he had made a few friends here, but that still didn't mean he liked talking to people.

"Good," Camille smiled. "If those are ready, would you be a dear and start setting some of the food out on the tables for everyone?"

Jace nodded again, and shifted the rolls to one hand, picking up a large plate of corn in the other. Swiftly he walked out into the dinning area, and set the plates out nicely on a long table covered by a white cloth. Then just as quickly he brought more food out as well: platters of rolls, corn, pot roast, beans, potatoes, man 'n cheese, cobbler, pies, and a whole lot of other mouth watering dishes. It was one of the things he liked about this particular kitchen. They really tried hard to make these people a nice meal.

Once all the food was prepared and set out, Jace waited patiently behind a table to start dishing it out to everyone. It took all of five minutes for the once open space to be suddenly crowded by people.

Swarms of men and women a like filed in making Jace's heart throb slightly in his chest. The room was packed, and not one person here had enough money to get by, let alone feed themselves. All of them were in poverty. Some had large packs strapped to their backs and holes in their clothes, others had shopping carts with them. The ones that truly broke his heart though, were the ladies with young children. Big bright eyes looked up at you, while they're hands held up a plate for you to fill. It was enough to melt the steel mans heart.

Jace smiled the entire time, occasionally even sparking up a conversation with with a few people. Minutes ticked by, and the food started to diminish, many of the people had left. Jace was just about to start cleaning up when she came in.

Vibrant hair as red as a glowing ember, green eyes that sparkled like million dollar champagne, and a light dusting of freckles on her cheeks. Clary. The waitress he had met earlier at Taki's. She bustled into the room looking flustered, and pale.

Her eyes were focused on the floor so she didn't notice him. A little girl Jace new as Emma Carstairs ran up and wrapped her arms around Clary's waist. Clary smiled at the girl before hugging her and sending her back off toward her friend Julian. Jace was surprised. Emma was usually solitary towards most people besides Julian, he's had maybe three conversations with the girl, and here she was giving a hug to Clary.

When she approached, Jace spoke up to get her attention. "Hello, Clary. What can I get for you today?"

She looked up, her expression slightly confused. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

Jace's smirk faded a little before going back to normal. "Aw. You don't remember me? I was that wonderful gentleman you served at Taki's this morning. To think, I remembered your name and you have the audacity to forget mine."

Clary's lips turned up at the ends in a small smile. "Well I can't be blamed for that since I don't recall you telling me your name."

It dawned on him that she was right. Whoops. "Ah, so you do remember me. My name is Jace. And may I ask, what a lady like you are doing in this place?"

"Well even with an employee discount, food at Taki's is expensive, my pantry is empty, and my grocery money went towards having my car towed and repaired. So it looks like dinner will have to be found here until my next paycheck."

That made him frown a little."Well I'll admit, the food here is fabulous." Jace said, while filling her plate with pieces of turky, corn, and a roll.

"Then I should be delighted to be dining here until I'm back on my feet," She gave him a warm smile and excepted the plate from him. It didn't escape Jace's notice that her hands were shaking and were as pale as snow. "It was nice seeing you, Jace. Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime." Clary took her place to a table in the corner of the room and silently picked at her food.

She left not an hour later. Jace thought about what she said regarding running into each other again, he hoped they did.

**Hey guys! I'm sorry. It's only the third chapter and I'm already apologizing for a late update. I've been sick for the past two weeks, and between school and activities I haven't had the time to write. I hope this update makes up for it! The last chapter in all honesty was sort of... well bad. It kept getting deleted, and finally I said to heck with quality and updated. Not my best idea. :) Hope you'll keep reading! Leave a comment if you can for quicker updates! Sincerely, FanOfTheWrittenArt**


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